History Main / ImprobableUseOfAWeapon

* Carlos Hathcock, a famed Marine Corps sniper (one of his famous achievements being a ScopeSnipe), once used a ''.50 machinegun'' [[http://www.bobtuley.com/50bmg914.jpg modified and mounted with a scope]] as an improvised sniper rifle. He set the record for the longest combat kill at 2,286 meters, a feat not surpassed until the Afghanistan war.
** Not especially surprising; a .50 sniping rifle is essentially a machine gun with a longer barrel and semi-auto or manual loading mechanism (in fact many .50 rounds can be used in either type of gun). Then again .50 rifles do tend to be used on ''machinery'' rather than people (for whom smaller calibers and lighter rifles are preferred) so it still counts as this trope.
*** It still counts, even without taking usage unto account, since the M2 was not designed for precision sniping, it just happens to be pretty good at it when not fired automatically.

* When the weapon does something it wouldn't normally (see ReverseBladeSword for the most common example, lethal weapons being non lethal) or works better than it should (e.g. destroying a tank with a pistol).

Compare ImprobableWeaponUser for when something that clearly isn't a weapon is used as one. See also: ImplausibleFencingPowers, ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks, BulletholeDoor, GangstaStyle, SliceAndDiceSwordsmanship.

* In ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', Kamina's first impression of a gun is to use its butt as a hammer to bash his enemies in, which doesn't even qualify as PistolWhipping. After almost shooting himself in the crotch through that method, he realizes how it's supposed to be used (but still holds it upside down).

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* In ''{{Predator}}'', Jesse Ventura uses a hand-held GE M134 Minigun. It is impossible for anyone to really hold and use this weapon. In RealLife this gun is mounted on a helicopter, it is far too heavy to be used otherwise. An even smaller version was actually designed to be hand-held, the [=XM214=], but was never mass produced.
** In ''{{Terminator}} 2: Judgement Day'', The Terminator uses one, but that is [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in that he is not human, and thus actually able to use such a large heavy weapon.
*** On the set for both the above movies, the only person who could even lift the thing (minus ammo and power supply) was Arnold Schwarzenegger.
*** With the rate of fire of a minigun, to shoot for anything more than 10 seconds would take about 30 people constantly running to bring you more ammunition.

* Of the four TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles only Leonardo comes close to fighting appropriately with his weapon. Donatello is decent, but never uses half the techniques for a bo, Michealangelo is missing 95% of his nunchuku skills since he dual wields them, and Raphael uses his sai's as knives instead of defensive bludgeon tool.

*** It still counts, even without taking usage unto account, since the M2 was not designed for precision sniping.

* Averted in TalesOfPhantasia; a rapier is an early-game weapon, and it's perfectly possible to slash with it. Don't expect to do any decent damage that way, though; the game's combat system allows you to use slashing and thrusting attacks, and the weapons used in this fashion have an attack power listed for each. Later on, you also get access to spears and axes, both of which possessing about as much slashing and thrusting power as you'd expect.

** Maka's insistence on trying to stab her enemies with the pointy end of her scythe also qualifies, as a scythe is designed to slash, not stab.
*** In Kid's defense, holding your guns like that really isn't that counterintuitive in practice.
**** Yes it is. To quote [[ThePunisher Frank Castle]]: "They put the sights on top for a reason."
***** [[InsaneTrollLogic Then we'll just have to put them on the bottom instead.]]
* Kaede Nagase in ''MahouSenseiNegima'' is a Ninja who mostly follows the rules of Hollywood Ninjas (kunai, explosives). Except for her being listed on {{BFS}}; it stands for [[FuumaShuriken [=BF=]]]''[[FuumaShuriken Shuriken]]''. She does throw it, but it's normally used to shield her and smash her targets. Note that shuriken were used as make-shift blades for close-in defense in RealLife. They just happened to often be small and annoying.
* In ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', Kamina's first impression of a gun is to use its butt as a hammer to bash his enemies in. After almost shooting himself in the crotch through that method, he realizes how it's supposed to be used (but still holds it upside down).

*** With the rate of fire of a minigun, to shoot for anything more than 10 seconds would take about 30 people constantly running to bring you more ammunition.

* In ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', Kamina's first impression of a gun is to use it's butt as a hammer to bash his enemies in. After almost shooting himself in the crotch through that method, he realizes how it's supposed to be used (but still holds it upside down).

** It still counts, even without taking usage unto account, since the M2 was not designed for precision sniping.
*** His successor is [[http://www.badassoftheweek.com/harrison.html Corporal of Horse Craig Harrison]], who ''took down three separate targets'' with ''a single bullet to each'' with an [=L115A3=] sniper rifle from 8120 feet away, or ''3200 feet beyond the rifle's effective range''.

* ''FinalFantasy'' series (the older ones, anyway): The Ninja's Throw technique makes you able to throw weapons at the enemy. ''All'' weapons. [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks Yes, even katanas.]] And it's even more effective depending on the power of the weapon. So, throwing a katana is [[KatanasAreJustBetter more effective]] than throwing a dagger, and some weapons are only effective when thrown, like Excalipur (sic) and imp halberds.

* ''FinalFantasy'' series (the older ones, anyway): The Ninja's Throw technique makes you able to throw weapons at the enemy. ''All'' weapons. [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks Yes, even katanas.]] And it's even more effective depending on the power of the weapon. So, throwing a katana is [[KatanasAreJustBetter more effective]] than throwing a dagger, some weapons are only effective when thrown, like Excalipur (sic) and imp halberds.

* One of the antagonists in ''YTheLastMan'' shows up for a fight DualWielding a pair of (two-handed) naginatas.

* DidNotDoTheResearch: In cases where the writer, actor or animator didn't bother to find out how the weapon is used (e.g. Using a foil to slash, using a mounted weapon as a man portable weapon).

* [[TheGamers Attempting to sneak attack with a ballista.]]